Pacific Justice Institute
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| Founded | 1997 |
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| Founder | Brad W. Dacus |
| Type | Legal advocacy |
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| Website | www |
The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is a conservative legal defense organization in California, United States.
PJI provides pro bono representation in matters involving the exercise of religion and other civil liberties. It has supported the recitation of "under God" as part of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, homeschooling, and the enforcement of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
In 2014, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Pacific Justice Institute as an anti-LGBT hate group.
PJI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is headquartered in Sacramento and has four other office locations in California, in the cities of Santa Ana, Oakland, Riverside, and San Diego. It was founded in 1997 by its current president, Brad W. Dacus, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.
The Pacific Justice Institute has taken on many cases, this section will only cover a few of the more publicly known cases.
Newdow v. Congress, 598 F.3d 638 (9th Cir. 2010) cert. denied 131 S. Ct. 1612 (U.S. 2011). AKA: The "In God We Trust Case": A prominent atheist, Michael Newdow, filed a suit to declare the national motto – In God We Trust – unconstitutional and to have it removed from coins and currency. Pacific Justice Institute intervened as a defendant and defended the against the suit. The case was dismissed by the trial court and the Ninth Circuit affirmed that decision.
In re Jonathan L.,165 Cal.App.4th 1074 (2008): A three justice panel of the California Court of Appeal handed down a ruling on February 28, 2008, that found no constitutional right to homeschool children, and the Court further determined that all home-based instruction is unlawful unless it is performed by a credentialed tutor on a daily basis. A private school, Sunland Christian School was the focus of the case. Sunland provides an independent study program that is taught by parents in the home. The Pacific Justice Institute represented Sunland before the Court of Appeal. The Court vacated and reversed its prior decision.
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